I was caught a bit off guard to receive a kiss from the subject of a recent story.
Ordinarily, this would cross the line of journalistic objectivity, but the subject was a two-year-old chihuahua-terrier cross named Cassie, a rescue dog from L.A. featured in a story I wrote about fostering animals. While I was talking with her foster mom, she jumped up on the picnic table and snuck in a kiss. Open mouthed.
Fortunately, I’m a softie for “Anipals” (I stole the term from longtime SNL writer Robert Smigel).
We always had dogs when I was growing up, and more recently I’ve had mostly cats, though I had to put my last cat, a rescue we named Coco, to sleep after she developed an aggressive form of cancer.
This was last year. I guess I’m lucky as it’s hard enough to find a place to live in Squamish. Frankly, you have an easier time if you’re a crack dealer than if you have an Anipal or a small child.
Don’t even start with me on this, landlords. If you’re that anal retentive, maybe you shouldn’t rent out property in the first place. God knows how you’d handle an unexpected kiss from a tiny rescue dog!
I don’t think we take animal welfare seriously enough. These Anipals provide unconditional love, and some even perform therapy work for anyone from seniors to prison inmates. Yet, we still take them for granted.
I won’t get into all the contradictions of our relationships with animals in general, but for whatever reason, we humans made a pact with our canine and feline friends a long time ago that we would look after them, and frankly we don’t always do a good job.
There are many dogs and cats left abandoned, and if there are problems close to home, the feature story on fostering reminded me of how conditions are even worse for some animals in other places. That was Coco’s situation in Arizona.
Many pets need homes. Right now, the SPCA is even cutting its adoption fees in half through Oct. 14 to encourage more people to adopt adult cats.
If you’re not yet ready to commit though, maybe think about fostering as a first step. To be sure, you won’t go unloved. I only wish I could say the same for all those Anipals.